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The Everett Stewart Regional Airport Board has called a special meeting for Friday afternoon to prepare for changes following the departure of board chairman Dr. Chris Gooch and airport manager Tim Smith.

Board member Wayne McCreight says members will be meeting on the UT Martin campus in Conference Room 309 of Gooch Hall.

The board has been working with UTM students regarding the strengths of Everett Stewart Regional Airport.

At this time, the Airport Board has no chairman following the Obion County Commission’s decision not to reappoint Dr. Chris Gooch, who had been serving as chairman. Following that decision, airport manager Tim Smith resigned.

Earlier, the airport secretary also resigned their position.

The airport board includes Mike Holman, Jim Bondurant, and new appointee Sammy McCollum from Obion County, while Weakley County board members are Kay Stegall, Roger Donaldson, and Wayne McCreight.

The Obion County Commission is expected to appoint another member to fill the position of Dr. Gooch at a later date.

Eight Weakley County high school students attended the Student Congress on Policies in Education, or SCOPE, in Murfreesboro earlier this month to express their views on public education in Tennessee.

Attending were Dryver Finch and Emma Winstead from Dresden High School; Kenady Atkins and Martha Nichols from Gleason High School; Kassidy Harris and Lydia Hazlewood from Greenfield High School; and Garritt Baker and Braxton Gunter from Westview High School.

The Weakley County representatives joined 349 of their high school peers to participate in mock school board sessions, where they assumed the roles of school board members, school officials, parents, students and concerned citizens. School board members, superintendents, and educational leaders led the sessions.

Students then chose speakers to represent each of their 16 small groups who went on to take part in full-scale debates on current education issues.

This year’s four debate topics and results from the poll were:

1. High school graduation requirements shall include several pathways/options (college and career, industry credentials, etc.) that allow students to graduate with a regular high school diploma. (Agree: 59%, Disagree: 41%)

2. Students shall have the option of substituting club sports for physical education requirements. (Agree: 80%, Disagree: 20%)

3. Fighting on school grounds or during school activities shall be a zero-tolerance offense. (Agree: 24%, Disagree: 76%)

4. For purposes of honors recognition at graduation, the board shall use the Latin System (i.e. summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude) instead of selecting a valedictorian and salutatorian. (Agree: 51%, Disagree: 49%)

Now in its 37th year, SCOPE is designed to give students a voice where public education issues are concerned and to involve young people in finding solutions to the topics that are discussed.

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WK&T has been awarded $2 million under the Broadband Accessibility Grant to build a fiber network in Henry County.

WK&T will match these funds, investing a total of more than $4 million.

The project calls for building a fiber network in two areas of Henry County. One area lies east of Highway 79 and west of Kentucky Lake, while the second area is west of Highway 79 and northeast of Paris.

Henry County Mayor Brent Greer says the grant positions Henry County for other job-creating opportunities in the years to come, and that residents and businesses in rural Henry County deserve the same quality of internet service offered in metropolitan areas.

Many residents in the affected communities submitted testimony to support the grant application, citing how a lack of reliable broadband negatively impacts their quality of life in areas such as education, business opportunities, health care, family, and safety.

When completed, the network will make high-speed broadband internet access available to 912 homes.

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After Monday’s Obion County Commission meeting in which one Airport Board member resigned, the Airport Board Chairman was voted out, and the Airport Manager resigned, Weakley County Commissioner and Airport Board member Roger Donaldson addressed Monday night’s Weakley County Finance, Ways, and Means Committee about the current situation with the Everett Stewart Regional Airport…

Along with Donaldson, Wayne McCreight and Kay Stegall also represent Weakley County on the Everett Stewart Regional Airport Board.